Bike Rider
EXT. HILLSIDE ROAD - MORNING
A narrow, winding path cuts upward through suburban hills. Morning light. Quiet.
JARED RODRIGUEZ (40s, heavy-set, determined but clearly struggling) pedals slowly uphill. His breathing is labored. Sweat drips from his forehead. Every muscle screams.
The bike beneath him—a standard commuter bike—seems undersized for his frame.
He looks at the long stretch of road ahead. Still climbing.
Two ELDERLY CYCLISTS come up behind him on the path. They're maybe in their 70s. They pass him without breaking a sweat, nodding casually as they glide by.
ELDERLY CYCLIST #1 (to their friend) — Nice morning, isn't it?
ELDERLY CYCLIST #2 — Perfect for a ride.
They disappear up the road. Jared watches them go, jaw tight. He keeps pedaling.
INT. MARTIN'S CAR - MORNING
MARTIN WANG (40s, composed, driving with one hand) steers through light traffic toward work. The radio plays softly. He sips coffee.
His phone suddenly RINGS through the Bluetooth system.
MARTIN (to the car) — Call Jared.
The phone connects.
MARTIN (CONT'D) — Hey, babe. You're up early.
JARED (V.O., breathing hard) — Yeah, I... I'm on the hill. The one past Elm.
MARTIN — How's it going?
JARED (V.O.) — It's... it's a lot steeper than I remember.
Martin smiles, indulgent.
MARTIN — You're doing great. You've been at this, what, three weeks?
JARED (V.O., breathless) — Feels like three years.
Back on the hill—
JARED (V.O., CONT'D, more urgent) — Uh, Martin? The pedal arm just unscrewed. Like, the whole thing. I'm holding it.
Beat. Jared stands on the side of the narrow path, holding the detached crank arm and bolt. He nearly lost his balance dismounting and is still steadying himself. The hill drops off beside the path. He takes a breath.
MARTIN (V.O.) (from phone) — Okay, okay. You're fine. Check the pouch under the seat. There should be a small wrench and an Allen key.
JARED (V.O.) — I'm standing on the side of a hill.
MARTIN (V.O.) — I know, babe. You got this. Breathe.
Jared finds the tool pouch beneath the bike seat. He fumbles with it, hands shaking slightly. Exhaustion. Adrenaline.
JARED (V.O.) — Okay. Okay, I got it.
He starts working on the bolt, trying to align the crank arm to the spindle. His hands are slick with sweat. He misses twice. Finally threads it.
JARED (V.O., CONT'D) (into phone) — You got it?
MARTIN (V.O.) — Yeah. I think so. Bolt's going in.
MARTIN (from car) — Not too tight. Just snug.
JARED (V.O., working) — Got it. Almost done. Should be—
A SOUND from above. Rustling. Then CRASHING through branches.
Something heavy falls from the jogging trail above the road.
A JOGGER ZOMBIE crashes through the brush and SLAMS onto the hillside beside the path. The body tumbles, lands hard in the vegetation. The jogger is in workout clothes, partially decomposed, legs bent at impossible angles.
JARED (V.O., screaming) — WHAT THE FUCK?!
MARTIN (V.O., screaming through phone) — JARED?! JARED?!
JARED (V.O., panic) — Oh God—oh God—something just fell—
MARTIN (V.O.) — Are you okay?! What happened?!
JARED (V.O.) — Something fell from the trail above. I don't know what—
He approaches cautiously, grease on his hands, bike parts still in his grip. He peers into the brush where the jogger landed.
Silence for a moment.
Then—
The jogger zombie EXPLODES from the brush, crawling toward Jared with shocking speed. Its legs are useless, dragging uselessly. It moves on its arms, snarling.
JARED (V.O., screaming) — OH JESUS—OH JESUS—
MARTIN (V.O., screaming) — WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?!
JARED (V.O.) — THERE'S SOMETHING—
In an instant of pure panic, Jared THROWS the wrench at the zombie. It hits the creature in the shoulder. Doesn't slow it.
Jared scrambles backward toward the bike.
MARTIN (V.O., screaming) — JARED?! JARED, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!
JARED (V.O., breathing hard, terrified) — There's—there's a PERSON—oh my God—
MARTIN (V.O.) — WHAT DO YOU MEAN A PERSON?!
INT. MARTIN'S CAR - CONTINUOUS
Martin's expression shifts from amusement to confusion to absolute panic.
MARTIN (into phone, urgent) — Jared, what's happening? Are you hurt?
JARED (V.O.) (from phone) — Something attacked me! I threw the wrench at it and—
The radio in Martin's car suddenly CUTS THROUGH:
RADIO ANNOUNCER (V.O.) — —reports of attacks across the city. We're getting unconfirmed reports—
Martin turns up the volume.
RADIO ANNOUNCER (V.O., CONT'D) — —unusual activity in downtown. We're live now with—
A REPORTER'S VOICE crackles through:
REPORTER (V.O., field report) — I'm at the corner of Fifth and Main, where—oh God—
Screaming in the background. Then static.
MARTIN (staring ahead, hands tight on wheel) — Jared? What did you say attacked you?
JARED (V.O.) (from phone) — I don't know! It looked like—it looked like a jogger, but it was—
MARTIN (cutting him off) — Okay. Okay. I just heard something on the news. There's some kind of outbreak? In the city?
JARED (V.O.) — Outbreak? What are you talking about?
MARTIN — Stay on the line. I'm turning on the TV.
Martin pulls into his driveway. He grabs his keys and runs toward the house.
EXT. HILLSIDE ROAD - CONTINUOUS
Back to Jared. The zombie is still crawling toward him, slow but relentless. Jared grabs his bike in panic.
The detached crank arm is still in his hand. In his terror, he shoves it back onto the spindle—but he rotates it wrong. The crank arm is backwards, 180 degrees off.
He fumbles with the bolt, threading it quickly but not tightening it fully.
JARED (into phone, panicked) — Martin, I'm getting the bike—
He tries to pedal away downhill. The bike starts moving.
His leg goes down on the pedal—and meets air. The crank is backwards. He can't get leverage.
JARED (CONT'D, cursing) — No, no, no—
He abandons the attempt. Dismounts quickly. Starts PUSHING the bike uphill, moving away from the advancing zombie.
The zombie crawls relentlessly behind him, maybe twenty feet back. Slow. Inevitable.
JARED (CONT'D) — Oh believe it. One of them is on the trail with me.
He shoves the damaged crank arm and bolt into his sweater pouch, grease and all.
JARED (CONT'D, breathing hard) — Martin... Martin, I'm pushing the bike up the hill.
MARTIN (V.O.) (from phone) — Pushing? Why are you pushing?
JARED — Because the pedal's not working and there's a THING chasing me!
INT. MARTIN'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Martin bursts through the front door. Grabs the remote.
The TV flickers to life.
A NEWS BROADCAST shows chaos. Downtown streets. Overturned cars. People running.
NEWS ANCHOR (V.O.) — —appears to be some kind of contagion. Victims are attacking—
The broadcast cuts to LIVE FOOTAGE of a REPORTER in the field. The reporter is mid-sentence when a zombie lunges into frame.
REPORTER (on screen) — —don't know what's causing—OH GOD—
The reporter SCREAMS. Colleagues pull them away. The camera shakes. The broadcast cuts back to the studio anchor, who looks shaken.
NEWS ANCHOR — —we're still trying to understand—
Martin stares at the screen, horrified.
MARTIN (into phone, voice shaking) — Jared? I'm looking at the news right now. And I don't... I don't believe what I'm seeing.
JARED (V.O.) (from phone, struggling uphill) — What's on the news?
MARTIN — There are... there are things attacking people. In the city. On TV. Live. It's... it's really happening.
Martin watches, transfixed. Another report. More chaos.
MARTIN (CONT'D, decision forming) — I'm coming to get you.
JARED (V.O.) (panicked) — What? No. Stay in the house. Lock the doors.
MARTIN (standing, grabbing keys) — I'm not leaving you on a hill with those things. Where are you exactly?
JARED (V.O.) — I'm on the Elm Street hill. The one past—
MARTIN (already moving) — I know it. I'm coming to the base of the hill on the other side. Can you get to the top?
JARED (V.O.) (struggling upward) — Yeah. Yeah, I have to.
MARTIN — Get to the top. Then coast down. I'll meet you at the bottom.
Martin runs out of the house.
EXT. HILLSIDE ROAD - CONTINUOUS
Jared pushes the bike uphill. His legs are screaming. His breath is ragged. Sweat soaks through his shirt.
Behind him, the zombie crawls. Always crawling. Always there.
JARED (into phone, exhausted) — I'm almost to the top. How far away are you?
MARTIN (V.O.) (from car, driving) — Two minutes. Maybe less. Stay on the phone with me.
Martin's car weaves through town. The streets are chaos.
An overturned car blocks one intersection. Martin swerves around it.
MARTIN (CONT'D, narrating) — Okay. I'm heading toward the hill. I'm on Main Street. There's a lot of damage here. Someone's car is on its side.
JARED (V.O.) (from phone) — Martin, focus on driving.
MARTIN — I'm driving. But there are people running. Toward me. No. Away from something.
A zombie stumbles into the street in front of Martin.
MARTIN (CONT'D, urgent) — Shit!
He swerves hard. The car SCRAPES against a parked car.
MARTIN (CONT'D) — Still coming. I'm still coming, Jared.
EXT. HILLTOP - MOMENTS LATER
Jared crests the top of the hill. He stops, breathing hard, completely drenched. Behind him, the zombie is far back now, still crawling, but no longer an immediate threat.
JARED (into phone) — I made it. I'm at the top.
MARTIN (V.O.) (from car) — Okay. Now coast down. Toward the secondary road. I'll be at the bottom.
JARED — The pedal's broken. I can coast.
Jared mounts the bike. No pedaling needed. Gravity takes over. He accelerates downhill.
JARED (CONT'D, into phone) — I'm coming down.
EXT. SECONDARY ROAD - CONTINUOUS
As Jared coasts downhill, the speed increases. But he's not alone on this road.
A JOGGER ZOMBIE lurches into his path from the side.
JARED (panicked) — There's another one!
He swerves hard. The bike wobbles dangerously. He nearly clips the zombie but manages to avoid it.
Another zombie—this one in a BUSINESS SUIT—stands in the middle of the road, arms outstretched.
JARED (CONT'D, urgent) — Oh God, oh God—
He swerves again, onto the shoulder. The bike almost goes out of control, but he manages it.
MARTIN (V.O.) (from car, tense) — Jared? Talk to me!
JARED (coasting faster) — There are more of them! On the downhill!
MARTIN (V.O.) — Just keep going! Don't stop!
MARTIN (from car, narrating) — I'm on Elm Street now. Coming up on the turn toward the hill base. There's a group of them here. Blocking the road.
JARED (V.O.) — Just go around!
MARTIN — I'm trying! There's debris—
The sound of tires SCREECHING. Metal SCRAPING.
MARTIN (CONT'D) — I hit something. Car's damaged but it's moving. Still moving.
JARED (V.O.) (coasting downhill, fast) — How much longer?
MARTIN — Two minutes. Maybe one. Keep going down!
EXT. HILLSIDE - DOWNHILL DESCENT
Jared is flying down the hill now. The bike speed is increasing. He's using the brakes carefully—too much and he loses control, too little and he'll crash at the bottom.
Another zombie encounter. A shambling figure stumbles into the road.
But Jared has speed on his side. He blows past it.
JARED (breathing hard) — I'm almost to the bottom!
MARTIN (V.O.) (from car) — I see the road! I'm almost there!
EXT. BOTTOM OF THE HILL - SECONDARY ROAD
A quiet intersection at the base of the hillside. Martin's CAR approaches from the distance.
Jared's bike coasts to a stop. He's breathless, drenched, legs shaking.
He looks around, orienting himself.
Martin's car appears in the distance. It's moving FAST.
JARED (into phone) — Martin? I see you!
The car SCREECHES to a stop beside Jared.
The passenger door is visibly DAMAGED—scraped metal, a dent running along the side. Marks where something grabbed or something hit.
Martin leans over, YANKS the passenger door open.
MARTIN — Get in! Get in!
Jared throws the bike toward the curb and dives into the car. Martin hits the gas before Jared has fully closed the door.
The car accelerates away from the hill.
INT. MARTIN'S CAR - CONTINUOUS
Jared collapses into the seat, still breathing hard. His heart is pounding.
JARED (still gasping) — Did you... did you hit something?
MARTIN (driving, focused) — Multiple things. Zombies. A fire hydrant. A fence. In that order.
JARED — You hit a fire hydrant?
MARTIN (slight smile, adrenaline) — It was attached to a zombie.
They both suddenly LAUGH—nervous, relief-filled laughter. The kind that only comes from surviving something.
Martin glances over at Jared, who's slumped in the seat.
MARTIN (CONT'D) — You okay?
JARED (catching his breath) — My bike pedal unscrewed.
MARTIN — I know.
JARED — And then there was a zombie.
MARTIN — Yeah.
JARED (looking at Martin) — Best cardio workout ever.
Martin laughs again, shaking his head. He keeps driving, heading away from the affected area.
EXT. SECONDARY ROAD - CONTINUOUS
The car disappears down the road, moving away from the chaos.
In the distance, the zombie jogger is still crawling slowly down the hill. In the middle of the road, the business suit zombie stands motionless.
But Jared and Martin are gone.
INT. SHELTER - SAFE LOCATION - LATER
A makeshift safe zone. Other SURVIVORS sit around. A NEWS BROADCAST plays in the background.
RADIO ANNOUNCER (V.O.) — —outbreak has been contained. Survivors are being processed. Authorities are looking for the source of the initial infection.
Jared sits with Martin and several other survivors. He's mid-story, gesturing animatedly.
JARED — So I'm pushing this bike up a hill, right? Out of shape, sweating profusely, and then the pedal just unscrews.
SURVIVOR #1 (interested) — Just comes off?
JARED — Just unscrews. And then—
MARTIN (interjecting) — He threw a wrench at it.
JARED (defensive) — I panicked!
SURVIVOR #2 — At a zombie?
JARED — At a zombie that crawled out of the bushes with broken legs!
The SURVIVORS laugh. Real, genuine laughter.
MARTIN — He pushed a bike uphill during a zombie outbreak. Without a pedal.
JARED — The lack of a pedal wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the pedal was on backwards.
More laughter.
MARTIN (smiling at Jared) — Best cardio workout ever.
Jared and Martin exchange a look. A moment of connection. They made it.
SURVIVOR #1 (laughing) — That's insane.
JARED (grinning) — Yeah. Yeah, it really is.
The survivors continue laughing as we fade out.